Fantastic Fossils
Part of the Mythic Creatures exhibition.
Timed-entry ticket reservations continue to be required for Museum entry. Facial coverings are strongly recommended. See Health and Safety.
Part of the Mythic Creatures exhibition.
Imagine walking along a bluff in ancient Greece and finding a leg bone several times the size of your own. What would you think? What if you saw a massive, human-like skull, with only a single hole where the eyes should be? Or a skeleton with four legs and a sharp, curved beak? What sort of creatures could these be?
Today, scientists recognize such bones as the remains of long-extinct mammoths, dinosaurs, and other animals. But to many ancient Greeks, these unfamiliar bones were proof of the existence of the giants, cyclopes, and griffins described in the popular stories and travel accounts of the time.